Wolf's Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that I am about to mangle around for my own amusement, sadly both Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Teen Wolf remain the property of their respective creators. I am merely borrowing there characters and make absolutely no profit whatsoever from their use so please keep the legal attack dogs, also known as lawyers, firmly muzzled and on a strong leash.

Authors Notes: I had this idea after watching a marathon of Teen Wolf episodes on my pc the other day. Add in recently rereading calikocat's Alpha Harris stories on Twisting the Hellmouth triggered this particular plot bunny attack and this fic was born. Story events begin just after the Buffy season one episode Teacher's Pet and will carry on through the rest of season one.

Also before anyone asks Scott McCall and Stiles Stillinski are still small children at this point in time and will not be appearing in this particular fic.

Chapter One

Alexander – Xander to his friends – Harris sighed softly as he slipped out of The Bronze after giving Buffy and Willow the slip. He really wasn't in the mood to hang around with them in the lights and loud music of the Bronze tonight, well for the short time that Buffy would be there anyway as she'd soon leave to do another patrol through the towns numerous cemeteries ready to dust any vampires she came across, in fact he wasn't really in the mood to do much of anything other than mope.

The reason why was simple. He was still mentally reeling from that whole thing that had gone down with Miss French, how she'd seduced him, how she'd planned to mate with him and then – being really a Praying Mantis demon thing instead of the beautiful woman who oozed sex appeal that she'd appeared to be – eat him starting with his head. It wasn't something that you just got over, though he'd let Buffy and Willow think he was over it as the Slayer and his lifelong best female friend/sister in every way but blood would only worry and try and coddle him for weeks if he didn't.

Leaving the Bronze behind he began making his way down the streets of Sunnydale towards home knowing that his folks would already be passed out drunk by now – especially as Tony had gotten paid yesterday and typically only spent the minimum on things like food and providing clothing for his son keeping the majority, that hadn't already been consumed by the mortgage, to spend on fresh stocks of booze – they'd already been very tipsy when he'd left to join Buffy and co on patrol and that had been at least two hours ago.

Keeping his guard up for vampires, you never knew where the bloody things were hiding especially at night, and feeling for the reassuring weight of the stake in his pocket he turned down a side street. From experience he knew a trip down this side street, and then the forth alley that intersected it, would take him over to the side of town where he and Willow lived. It was a shortcut they both knew well and one they'd used for years when leaving or going to the Bronze as it cut the better part of an hour off the walk home.

He was just walking past the first alleyway – which led to the loading dock behind the Bronze – when a strange sound caught his attention. What the hell? He thought pausing and looking round for the source of the noise, a noise that sounded almost like a growl but one that was completely different to the growl vampires sometimes made.

That was when he saw it.

From the deepest, darkest part of the alley two glowing red eyes were watching him in a very considering fashion. He could faintly see movement against the shadows that revealed the outline of the fur-covered body that the eyes belonged to. For a moment out of time he froze, mentally cursing himself for leaving the safety of the nightclub, then he took a cautious step back…

…and the thing moved.

In a blur of shape and shadow the red eyed creature leapt forward and pounced on him knocking him to floor and making stars explode before his eyes as his head hit the ground hard. A second later sharp, burning pain blossomed in his right shoulder. It blasted through his skull obliterating every coherent thought in his head. He barely noticed when the weight of the thing pinning him down vanished as it bounded away into the night – Xander's scream of pain following it.

"Ah shit," Xander groaned as he lay there on the floor before looking at his right shoulder, to see blood welling up from a deep, deep gash ripped in his flesh. After a moment, feeling the disorientation from hitting the ground so hard fade somewhat, and being careful not to jar his shoulder he staggered back to his feet.

Deciding he had better head back to the Bronze where he could get some help, he turned and began walking, well more staggering, back towards the nightclub. He had barely gotten two steps when two familiar figures appeared around the corner. "Buffy, Willow over here," he called pain from his shoulder lacing his voice.

It was obvious that they heard him because both his female friends came racing up, Buffy naturally moving faster than Willow. "Xander why'd you slip out on us," Buffy asked then caught site of the wound on his shoulder and immediately turned serious. "What happened?" she demanded with full Slayer authority as Willow arrived and, seeing the wound, immediately started fussing over it.

"I'm not sure it's all a blur," Xander answered, "I had a headache so I thought I'd head home. I was just walking along when this thing came out of the alley that runs behind the Bronze. Next thing I know for sure I'm flat on my back seeing stars, it bit me on the shoulder then ran off."

"Did you see which direction it went," Buffy asked already intent of running down the thing that had attacked her friend and explaining to it the depth of that mistake. Xander shook his head. "Never mind I'll find it later and explain just how big of a mistake it's made. In the meantime that looks deep… we should get you to Giles so he can have a look at it."

"He won't be at the High School now," Willow pointed out as she fished a hanky out of a pocket and carefully applied it to the wound on her remaining best male friends shoulder mouthing 'I'm sorry' when Xander hissed in pain at the contact.

"That's not a problem I know where he lives," Buffy replied as she moved up besides the still staggering Xander and put his uninjured arm across her shoulders. She immediately felt him put his weight on her and for one of the few times since she'd been called she was glad she was the Slayer as Xander was surprisingly heavy. "Let's go."

Giles Apartment

Twenty Minutes Later

Rupert Giles took a sip of his freshly brewed tea and sighed in pleasure. Putting the mug down he picked up the battered copy of Lord of the Rings that he'd been reading before heading to the small kitchenette to make the tea. He was just starting to read about Bilbo's birthday party when his front doorbell went off.

"Now who could that be," he muttered aloud as he put the book down on the coffee table and got up to see who was visiting him at this time of night. He paused just long enough to pick up a small battle axe from its hiding place and cautiously approached the door. With Sunnydale being the site of a Hellmouth – a revelation that had really set the cat among the pigeons with the Watcher's Council once he'd informed them of it – one could never be too careful when answering the door. Especially at night when there were vampires and all manner of demons wandering about the town, preying on the human population.

Peering through the spy hole he allowed himself to relax when he realised that it was just his Slayer. Though why she'd come to his apartment so late in the evening he had absolutely no idea, surely if she'd seen something she would tell him about it before class in the morning. Only one way to find out what she wants, he thought as he unlocked and opened the door. The greeting he'd been about to give dying on his lips when he saw Buffy holding up a bloody, barely conscious Xander with a frightened looking Willow hovering in the background.

"Good Lord what happened," he asked in a mixture of alarm and concern even as he stepped aside to allow them entry.

"Xander was attacked," Buffy explained as she guided Xander over to the couch and set him down as gently as possible. But not gently enough to not draw a yelp of pain as his wounded shoulder was jarred.

"By what a vampire," Giles asked as he hurried over, "Willow go into the bathroom, it's down the hallway, second door on right, and get my first aid kit from the cupboard." Willow nodded and hurried to comply with the Watcher's orders.

"I'm not sure but it wasn't a vamp. We weren't with him at the time, we found him like that in a side street next to the Bronze," Buffy explained as Giles gently eased off Xander's bloodstained shirt and started examining the wound. Buffy winced at the sight of it. It was an ugly wound with numerous puncture marks – that could only be teeth marks – on both sides of the shoulder though it had thankfully ceased bleeding. Despite being The Slayer the sight of human blood flowing still kind of made her want to throw up.

"He mentioned something coming out of the alley that runs behind the Bronze," she continued, "whatever it was knocked him down hard enough to knock him near senseless before biting him on the shoulder then disappearing into the night. It must have been a demon of some sort. Xander couldn't tell which direction it went otherwise I would have already run it down and slayed it."

"I see. Buffy can you nip into the kitchen and get a bowl of warm water for me. I need to clean this wound," Giles instructed. Buffy nodded and hurried to comply.

Giles for his part carefully examined the wound on the young man's shoulder. It was a deep wound that had penetrated all the way through to the muscle in multiple places and it was definitely a bite. A bite whose size and shape seemed vaguely familiar from somewhere though he couldn't for the life of him remember where he'd seen a wound like this before.

"Xander this is important can you tell me anything about the thing that bit you," he asked looking into brown eyes of the teenager, eyes that were semi-glazed from a combination of pain, shock and blood loss.

"Eyes," Xander slurred back, "they….they weren't normal Giles."

"Can you tell me what was different about them," he asked gently.

"Red they were red," Xander answered struggling to speak as he just wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep. "And they…they… glowed and there was fur when it moved in the dark."

"Did you see anything else," Giles asked a marked suspicion beginning to grow in the back of his mind. If he was right then what had bitten Xander was indeed a supernatural creature like Buffy had surmised but it wasn't a demon as she'd naturally, and quiet understandably given what this place was, assumed it to be. No it was something very, very different and he hadn't known that its kind frequented Sunnydale. He would have to do a little bit of research, and watch Xander closely over the next twenty-four hours to see if the wound healed, but if he was right then the young man's life was about to change. And change massively.

"Do you know what it is, Giles," Buffy asked as she returned with a flannel and a bowl of warm water, Willow a few paces behind her with the first aid kit.

"I have a suspicion yes though I wasn't aware that there kind frequented Sunnydale," Giles replied as he accepted the bowl of water and wet the flannel. "I'm sorry, Xander but this is going to sting." When the groggy teen nodded in understanding he gently started washing out the wound drawing a moan of pain from Xander.

"So what do you think it is, Giles," Willow asked worried for her lifelong friend, she winced as Xander again moaned with pain as Giles dapped his wounds with warm water.

"If I'm right, and we'll know within twenty-four hours if I am, then the creature that bit Xander was a werewolf."

"Werewolf!" Xander exclaimed the word piercing the haze around his mind and bringing him fully awake again – at least for now. He stared at Giles in horror.

"How could it be a werewolf, Giles," Buffy asked, "the full moon isn't for another week, shouldn't it have been human right now?"

"I'm not sure, Buffy as my knowledge of werewolves, and the different types and species of werewolf, is somewhat limited," Giles admitted, "hence why I will have to consult my books."

"When you said twenty-four hours what did you mean? What's going to happen to Xander? If it was a werewolf does that mean he'll become one too?" Willow babbled.

"What I meant if it was a werewolf then the wound on Xander's shoulder will heal completely within twenty-four hours," Giles replied, "and we better hope it does because one thing I know for certain if it doesn't then…"

"Then what," Xander asked.

"Then you'll die," Giles answered grimly drawing gasps of horror from all three teens. "But if it heals then…"

"I'll become a werewolf," Xander asked though it was clear from his tone that he already knew the answer.

Giles looked sympathetically at the young man. "Yes," he confirmed even as he finished cleaning the wound. "Willow pass me the first aid kit, please."

"If… if I do become a… a werewolf what will happen to me," Xander asked stumbling over some of the words. Much as a part of him didn't want to know what was going to happen to him, if he was indeed going to become a werewolf, the rest of him knew he needed to know. "Will I become a monster?"

"As I said I don't know a huge amount about werewolves, especially the species that has bitten you, Xander," Giles replied as he accepted the first aid kit off Willow. He was not at all unhappy about having to repeat that he was quite ignorant of the finer points of werewolves. Given what was certainly going to happen to the young man it was understandable that he would want to know as much as possible; plus he obviously needed reassurance. "I will of course check the appropriate books for more information as soon as we are done here. But one thing I can tell you for certain, Xander is you won't become a monster. Not unless you want to be one."

"And I'm not going to slay you, Xander," Buffy added "even if you do transform into a man wolf thing on the full moon all we'll need to do is contain you on those nights. We'll help you through this, won't we Willow."

Willow nodded in agreement bringing a slight smile to Xander's face. "Thanks," he answered softly a slight weight sliding off his shoulders. He was glad to know that whatever else happened to him, even if he started turning into a wolf every full moon, that his friends would be there to help him through it and would ensure that he didn't hurt anyone.

For a few moments silence reigned as Giles carefully placed a sterile dressing on the wound before carefully bandaging it as much as possible. "There," he said as he used a bit of adhesive tape to hold the bandage closed. "I believe it would be best if you stay in my spare room here tonight, Xander," he said to the dark haired teen. "That way I can check the wound in the morning before we head over to the school."

Xander considered for a moment before nodding. "I think that would be a good idea," he agreed after a moment as he wouldn't want to explain the wound on his shoulder to his parents when they woke from their drunken stupor.

"We should call your parents then, tell them," Buffy said. "You can say you're staying with me or Willow for the night so they don't worry."

"They won't answer now," Xander replied, "they'll be sprawled out drunk on the couch by now. They were already extremely tipsy when I left to come on patrol with you."

"Do they do that a lot," Giles asked frowning, "drink I mean."

"More than I'd like," Xander admitted.

"I see," Giles replied making a mental note to speak to Xander more about it later, but first he needed to do a little bit of research into the whole werewolf thing. "If you'll wait here, Xander I'll go set up the bed in the spare room for you. As for you two," he looked pointedly at the two girls, "you should head home."

"Giles…" Buffy started to object.

"There is nothing more you can do here tonight, Buffy," Giles told his Slayer. "Go home and get some sleep as you do have school tomorrow." Buffy made a face at him but ultimately nodded in agreement.

"He's right, Willow," she said looking at her redheaded friend.

Willow looked like she was about to object but one look at the faces of both the Slayer and the Watcher convinced her that any argument she could make about staying here would be futile. Accepting the inevitable she, as gently as possible, hugged Xander before stepping back and nodding at Buffy, who then gave Xander a hug of her own before heading for the front door. Willow followed and in moments they were gone, back out into the street.

"Wait here," Giles said gently to Xander as he stood up.

"Is there anything here that I can read about… about you know."

"I do have a few books on werewolves yes," Giles replied before going over to a bookcase and after a moment of searching took one out. "This should tell you the basics about werewolves and the different types and species as well as their abilities. I will need it back to review myself afterwards."

"Thanks," Xander replied accepting the book with his uninjured arm before opening the book to the first page. Giles watched him for a few moments as he began reading the book with an understandable seriousness, before smiling and heading for the airing cupboard to get out some bedding for Xander to sleep upon tonight.

Outside Giles Apartment

"Do you really think that Xander is going to become a werewolf Buffy?"

"I believe so," Buffy replied to Willow's question as they walked slowly away from the condominium that housed her Watcher's apartment. "And I meant what I said in there I'm not going to slay him. If I have to knock him out and chain him up on the full moon I will but I'm not going to go all Slayer on his ass. I can't say the same for the werewolf that bit him though. Whoever he or she is they're going to regret ever doing something that's put them on my radar."

Willow smirked at the predatory look that appeared on Buffy's face as she said that. She didn't doubt that Buffy was going to hunt down the werewolf responsible for biting and, almost certainly, infecting Xander with lycanthropy. Hunt down and explain to him/her the depth of the mistake that they had just made, right before she tore them limb from limb. She wished she could help but was well aware that she would be at a severe disadvantage in such a confrontation.

"What are we going to do about, Xander?" she asked.

"The only thing we can do," Buffy answered. "We help him adjust to any, and all, changes he goes through as a result of being bitten. And we make sure, for his own peace of mind, that when the full moon comes he doesn't hurt – or infect – anyone else. We'll also search for a cure, if there is one we'll find it."

Willow nodded in agreement. She was already planning to go on her computer as soon as she got home and start researching werewolves and try to separate the reality from the fantasy. After all the more fact's they knew about real life werewolves the easier it would be for them to help Xander adjust to the reality of being one. As Buffy had said it was really the only thing that either of them could do for him.

Standing on a rooftop Marcus watched the two girls leave the apartment and walk away. He'd carefully followed them here ever since he'd bitten Xander, which was apparently the young man's name. He couldn't help but curse himself for not investigating his target a bit more thoroughly as he'd been watching him on and off for a few weeks.

In that time he had seen that, despite some self-esteem issues caused by his alcoholic parents, Alexander Harris had a lot of potential. He was brave and loyal, both of which were traits that would serve him well as a Beta especially with werewolf strength backing him up. But in all that time he had somehow missed the fact that the blond haired girl Buffy – which he had to admit was a weird name even by the quirky standards of Californians – was the Slayer.

That made things, difficult. Right now the Slayer was angry at him and like all supernatural beings he knew instinctively that getting a Slayer pissed off at you was very bad for your health. As an Alpha werewolf he easily matched her for sheer physical strength but he was well aware that a violent confrontation between them would not end well for him as the greater speed and agility of a Slayer easily offset his superior strength. If he wanted to keep his head and body intact he would have to be extremely careful about how he handled things from now on, especially when the time came to approach them openly.

Still my soon to be Beta being friends with the Slayer could be useful, he thought, especially given this town seems to be infested with vampires. If he could win her to his side then not only would the Slayer be highly useful in keeping the vampire rabble from interfering with his attempts to build a pack but she could prove useful to his other, much more long-term, goals as well.

Grinning at the thought of having a Slayer as an associate member of his future pack he moved across the roof to the fire escape. After descending several stories to the street below he concentrated and immediately felt his body shifting and changing…

…seconds later he ran out the alley he'd descended into as a black, but otherwise ordinary looking, wolf.

Authors Note: Well this chapter is done, it's a little shorter than I had hoped for but I didn't think I could have added much more to it. Now the question is how will Xander adjust to the realities of becoming a werewolf? Who exactly is Marcus and what does he really want, well aside from the normal Alpha thing of wanting to build and lead a pack of Betas?

You'll all have to wait and see for those answers I will say however that Marcus is not in any way related to the Hales who are very much alive at this point in time. The Hales may well have a role to play in the fic as it develops given they are highly respected in the werewolf community I honestly haven't decided yet what – if any – role they will play.